


'Cause We'll Sure as Hell Never Give Up On You

by pancake_surprise



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek AOS, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Crew as Family, Families of Choice, Gen, Star Fleet Academy, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-09
Updated: 2017-02-09
Packaged: 2018-09-23 01:40:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9635114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pancake_surprise/pseuds/pancake_surprise
Summary: Jaylah has some trouble at the Academy. Luckily she has an entire crew standing behind her.





	

When Captain Kirk and Scotty had dropped Jaylah off at the Academy, Scotty had demanded Boyce let him know immediately should anything happen to her. As far as he was concerned, it was his responsibility. When he’d told her on Altamid that they would sure as hell never give up on her, he had meant it with every fiber of his being. He didn’t really believe that anything horrible would occur while she was studying at the Academy, which made it all more surprising when Boyce commed him not four months after they had dropped Jaylah off.

“Lt. Commander Scott,”

“Yes?”

“As per your request, I have called to inform you of Jaylah’s current status.” Scotty swallowed. “Yesterday, Jaylah was involved in a fight among several students. Jaylah, as well as two others are currently at Starfleet Medical. When she has been cleared, she will face a hearing to determine what action will be taken regarding her expulsion.” Scotty no sooner opened his mouth to protest that Boyce said “that is all” and disconnected the call. Scotty swore and took off running. Hell would freeze over sooner than he wouldn’t be there to help Jaylah through this mess that he highly doubted was hers. In the turbolift he all but screamed “bridge”.

“Meester Scott on the bridge,” Chekov shouted as the doors shut behind Scotty.

“Mr. Scott, why have you left engineering?” Kirk said standing.

“Captain, I formally request to take all o’ my aquired leave beginning today and allow me the use o’ one of the shuttles to return to earth.”

“Woah woah wait what?”

“Captain, I have surmised that something has happened at the Academy,” Spock said turning to the Captain.

“Jaylah."

“Aye sir.”

“I accept your request for leave.”

“Thank you sir.” Scotty said turning back to the turbo lift.

“Scotty wait. Whatever it is, I wanted updated.”

”Of course sir,” and with that Scotty was already heading toward the shuttle bay.  
********************************  
Scotty thanked the stars above more than once that they had been unusually close to earth when the call had come in. It took only a day and a half to arrive in San Francisco. He headed immediately for Starfleet Medical. He’d wanted to corner Boyce the minute he stepped off the ship, hell bent on determining what had actually happened, he had a funny feeling the official report was going to be found to be incredibly incorrect, but in the end he decided seeing Jaylah was more important. He longed to know she was safe and well taken care of and, more than anything, he wanted her to know she wasn’t alone. Whatever was going on, she was not about it to face it by herself.  
He burst through the door of her hospital room and stopped short of the bed. There was Jaylah, strapped down to the bed.

“Montgomery Scotty!” she shouted.

“What the hell is this? They tied you down!” it took him all of two seconds to begin working the straps off, beginning first with those around her wrists.

“Montgomery Scotty, why are you here?” Jaylah asked as her first arm was freed.

“Boyce called me. Said you’d gotten into some trouble. When I heard ya were admitted to Starfleet Medical, I wasn’t about to let ya stay here alone. And it looks like that was a damn wise decision. Rest assured Lass, I’ll be sure to look into whoever thought it a good idea to tie up an injured cadet. The Captain is not going to be happy when he hears about this.”

“James T? You cannot tell James T.”

“”Lassie, he’s gonnawanttoknow and I’m not sure he won’t weasel a way to find out even if I don’t tell him”

“No. James T cannot know. James T will be angry. I cannot have James T angry.”

“Okay Lassie, let's not be thinking about that now. Let’s start from the beginning. What happened at the Academy the other day? Who did you get into a fight “

“I did not fight. “

“Okay lass, I believe ya. Just tell me what happened”

“I was at bar. Trying to take edge off. Other cadets from my class were there. Their edge was off. They called me whore. I do not know this word. Whore of the Enterprise. I knew this was false, I have never been on Enterprise.” Jaylah clenched her fists tightly as she continued. “They insult James T. They insult Montgomery Scotty. And Commander Spock and Pavel Chekov and more and I scream. They fight. I did not fight.”

Scotty’s face was a stunning shade of engineering red by the end, matching the shirt he’d failed to change.

“Montgomery Scotty do not be mad”

“I am not mad Jaylah. Not at you.” he said softly. 

“Why did they tie you down here wee Lass?”

“They shoot me with needles, I yell and kick. They did not like.”

“Ah, well I’ll first see to it that you’re never tied down here again and then I’ll speaking to Boyce about your potential explosion. If I have anything to say about it, there won’t be a hearing at all.”

“Thank you Montgomery Scotty.” Scotty edged closer to the bed and set a hand down on hers. 

“Anything for you Lass.”

*******************************  
After seeing to it that Jaylah would never be strapped down to a godforsaken hospital bed again, Scotty marched straight to Boyce’s office.

“If this is about Jaylah, there is nothing I can do. There are no recordings of the event that took place and the witnesses all place Jaylah as both a participant and an instigator.”

“There must be something sir, I know Jaylah and she did not do what those other cadets claim. Do you know what they called her? Whore of the enterprise just because Captain Kirk, Ensign Chekov, Commander Spock, and I saw personally that she made it to the Academy safely. Those cadets should be saluting her, without her Yorktown would be gone.”

“My hands are tied. All you can do is ensure she has excellent character witnesses at the hearing and hope the board rules in her favor.”

“Dammit,” Scotty said seeing himself out the room. There was only one way he was going to gather enough witnesses and it wasn’t going to be easy.

*************************  
“Scotty to Enterprise Bridge.

“Mr. Scott, how are things on earth.” Captain Kirk asked.

“You’re not gonna like it sir,”

“Is Jaylah okay?” Chekov asked carefully, unsure if the conversation was open to the rest of those currently assigned to alpha shift.

“Jaylah is fine now no thanks to Starfleet Medical. They had her tied down Captain! Tied down! She’s been accused of starting a fight that left two cadets in the hospital. I know she didn’t do it Captain but they’re making her go through a hearing anyway. They want her expelled. I won’t have it! These cadets sir, I can barely repeat what they called her myself. She doesn’t deserve this.” 

Kirk frowned. This was not acceptable. “What did the other cadets say, Mr. Scott?”

“The Enterprise’s whore. And more, but that about sums the worst of it up.” Jim’s knuckles grew white, Chekov gasped, his face turning red. Uhura stood, arms crossed, ready to fight as if the offending cadets were on the bridge with them. Even Spock seemed unnerved at the statement, fists clenched tightly to his sides.

“Captain, at warp 4 it will only take us one day to arrive at earth,” said Spock.

“Mr. Sulu, set course for earth, Starfleet Headquarters. Our current assignment will have to wait.”

“Sir?” Scotty said tentatively.

“I assume she’ll be needing character witnesses. She can rest assured, she’ll have over 500.”

“Thank you sir,”

“Go tell her the cavalry is on its way.”  
****************************************************  
Scotty returned to Starfleet Medical when Jaylah was discharged, all the way muttering about how he would never be returning to that hospital for any of his future medical needs. While some of the tension drained from Jaylah as they stepped outside, it was far from all gone.

“Are you angry, Montgomery Scotty?”

“No Lassie, I’m just glad to have gotten ya out of there.”

“Did you tell James T?”

“Aye, Lass. He wasn’t happy. He’ll be ‘ere for the hearing.”

“Is James T angry?”

“At Boyce? Yes. At those cadets? Yes. Ah goddamn Starfleet Medical? Very much so. At you? No.”

Jaylah looked away contemplating his words. It didn’t make sense to her. She did not fight but still she was in trouble with Starfleet. James T and Montgomery Scotty worked for Starfleet. They got her entrance to Starfleet. They should be angry with her just like Starfleet. But they were not. Montgomery Scotty had told her that several times now. She thought back to his statement inside her house on Altamid. “And we’ll sure as hell never give up on you.” She had thought it applied only in situations like the one with Krall, where death was likely and always eminent. But maybe he meant it for things like this too.  
**************************  
“Jaylah may be the bravest cadet to have gone through the Academy,” Jim began. “Not only did she survive alone on Altamid for nearly ten years hiding from and fighting the Hive, but then, when the Enterprise crashed and several of us found our way to the U.S.S. Franklin, she stepped up, ready to help the five of us rescue the surviving crew from Krall’s clutches. An action which had no benefit to herself. An action that had a high probability of ending in her own death. As a young girl, she saw first hand what Krall did to those unfortunate enough to become one of his prisoners and still she fought beside us. Jaylah is a cadet of honor. Jaylah would not fight where fighting is not necessary, not when she’s already done enough fighting for a lifetime.” Jim continued on for several more minutes before his allotted time ran out and Uhura stepped up to relay her witness.

“I met Jaylah aboard the U.S.S. Franklin after being beamed back from Krall’s encampment. Jaylah possess unparallelled technical acumen rivaling that of the Enterprise’s entire engineering department combined. Jaylah single handedly restored that ship for over ten years. Yes, Mr. Scott, Mr. Chekov, and Mr. Sulu were there to help get it in the air but that ship was Jaylah’s. Jaylah repeatedly proved herself to be an incredibly talented, intelligent, and loyal ally. Jaylah does not deserve to be on trial for a crime we all well know she didn’t commit.”

Chekov, Sulu, and Chapel followed Uhura before Spock stood.

“Without Jaylah, no member of the Enterprise crew would have made it off of Altamid. Starfleet and the Enterprise are indebted to the critical knowledge and courage she displayed during the battle with Krall. To expel such a promising cadet would be illogical.”

One by one, the entire Enterprise crew stood to verify Jaylah’s bravery, intelligence, and loyalty. By the end of the hearing, nearly two days after it begun, it was clear that there were no grounds to expel Jaylah from the academy. Doing so would make the Academy look bad in more way than one. When Boyce read the final pronouncement, that all charges were dropped, the entire auditorium lit up screaming, shouting, jumping. Scotty and Jim beamed. Uhura hugged Chapel. Chekov and Sulu high fived. Throughout the halls where the majority of the Enterprise’s crew had to wait, sitting along walls and generally taking up any and all free space, it was like a wild party broke out. Jaylah was ushered out of the hall surrounded by her crew, surrounded by her family.

**Author's Note:**

> First fic. Idk


End file.
